The magazine's Top 100 is the only national analysis to use the most recent data available from the U.S. Department of Education, which reflects the 2005-06 academic year. This is the 16th consecutive year that Diverse (formerly Black Issues in Higher Education) produced the rankings.

In Illinois, only American Intercontinental University Online and Chicago State University ranked higher than SIUC. Among other Illinois institutions, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked 69th; DeVry, 84th; and Robert Morris College, 98th.